TGwaH Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 (edited) So there I was tonight sanding down my guitar body when my mind started to wander. Perhaps it was a meditative state or maybe it was lack of caffeine, but I think I've hit upon a pretty good idea. We have people coming on to these boards asking some fairly basic questions over and over again. Rather than ignore them or tell them to search (as they may not know how to do a good search) I was thinking that everyone chips in some information about guitars; basic stuff mostly. Once the community as a whole seems to think we've got the majority of FAQ's covered, I'll distill it down into an HTML file for the main site. Scale Length -- the distance between your nut and the saddles of your bridge. The twelfth fret should be equidistant between both. Common Scale Lengths: Fender Jaguar -- 24" or 609.6mm Strat/Tele -- 25 1/2" or 647.7 mm Jazz Bass -- 34" or 863.6 mm Gibson Byrdland -- 23 1/2" or 596.9 mm Les Paul -- 24 3/4" or 628.65 mm PRS Santana -- 24.5" or 622.3 mm Tremonti -- 25" or 635.0 mm Edited October 14, 2005 by rhoads56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Perry suggested a FAQ page awhile back, it is an excellent idea. The mods know better than anyone which Qs to put on there. Maybe the mods can send you the Qs on a regular basis and you could probably put the page together from stuff you find with the search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGwaH Posted October 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 I'd be game for that. Mods, what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nollock Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 I started writing a truss rod faq a month or 2 back and completely forgot about it, its not finished and will need checking over by someone more experienced, i sorta looked through most of the truss rod related posts and did a bit of research, and i think its pretty acurate. I could finish the last couple of bits and pass it on to you if you want. I was hoping to get some pics pics of the relevant truss rods for it, maybe a few diagrams. Anyway here's its current state... http://www.flak.clara.net/FAQ.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGwaH Posted October 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 I started writing a truss rod faq a month or 2 back and completely forgot about it, its not finished and will need checking over by someone more experienced, i sorta looked through most of the truss rod related posts and did a bit of research, and i think its pretty acurate. I could finish the last couple of bits and pass it on to you if you want. I was hoping to get some pics pics of the relevant truss rods for it, maybe a few diagrams. Anyway here's its current state... http://www.flak.clara.net/FAQ.html ← Not bad, not bad at all I've sent a PM about erikbojerik's excellent idea so hopefully I'll have the wheels in motion soon. Things are a bit tight right now with school and wanting to get my first build done by the new year, but if all goes well I should have a fairly decent list going and up around the same time. Anyone else wanna throw in their two cents on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted October 16, 2005 Report Share Posted October 16, 2005 Good idea. Sounds like it can't hurt. This one may cause some confusion. Les Paul -- 24 3/4" or 628.65 mm Gibson did use a true 24-3/4" scale. What they advertise as 24-3/4" is usually 24-9/16", and sometimes 24-5/8". Most common today would be the 24-9/16". Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted October 16, 2005 Report Share Posted October 16, 2005 Brain has stated this on more than one occasion that he doesn't want a FAQ thread. IMO It's easier to search than read through a bunch of other crap to get to what you want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n8rofwyo Posted October 16, 2005 Report Share Posted October 16, 2005 You may be able to cover certain key words - and their definitions and explanations - in your FAQ, just like you have addressed scale lenght. However, I think that the main body of the FAQ would probably be better addressed by linking to already existing tutorials. You probably wouldn't want to paraphrase LGM's painting tuts or Ansil's electrical tuts, for fear of losing some of the original content. An explanation of terms would be fine for the FAQ itself, but I feel that putting links to tutorials that cover the processes would be more beneficial to newbies (since the main point of doing this is to help those who either don't know the forum layout or don't have the skills or guitar vocabulary to refine a search). Just my thoughts though, good luck getting it situated. Nate Robinson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted October 16, 2005 Report Share Posted October 16, 2005 If people are to lazy to use the search function, why would they scroll through and read through an FAQ, I think that's why it hasn't been done yet really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted October 16, 2005 Report Share Posted October 16, 2005 i dont mind the idea BUT.... The ONLY question so far on this thread has an answer that is most definately wrong. No-one yet has realised this (maybe they didnt read it). If a FAQ is going to succeed, you need to start with a bunch of questions first.... compile that list, before you answer anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 16, 2005 Report Share Posted October 16, 2005 The ONLY question so far on this thread has an answer that is most definately wrong. No-one yet has realised this (maybe they didnt read it). ← I assumed that was a typo...but yeah, any FAQ would require a copy editor and proofreader. I agree with Nate -- more than anything, the forum needs a glossary (including misspellings and alternate terminologies). Because the search function becomes useless if you don't know the words to search for! The glossary should also contain non-English equivalents for ALL terms! As for the FAQ, well, it can't hurt, can it? But there's no point in yelling at people for not using it. (like yelling at people for not using the search function --like I said, if you don't know your terms, how can you search?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivin Posted October 16, 2005 Report Share Posted October 16, 2005 If people are to lazy to use the search function, why would they scroll through and read through an FAQ, I think that's why it hasn't been done yet really. ← Thats a fair point, but if we had a fairly comprehensive, accurate FAQ then it would be a breeze to just refer new people to it rather than just telling them to search through the haystack. All it would take is for someone to say "Your question has been answered in the FAQ... link here". Hell, we could all just keep it somewhere and copy and paste it so that way we don't get people taking out their frustrations on new people because they woke up on the wrong side of the bed I mean, I know you could say thats the same as telling someone that its been covered and to go search for it, but this is a LOT simpler and efficient in the end will make it easier for people to learn. - Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 16, 2005 Report Share Posted October 16, 2005 All it would take is for someone to say "Your question has been answered in the FAQ... link here" ← Excellent point. That should be the end of the discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted October 17, 2005 Report Share Posted October 17, 2005 I think its a good idea... Some basic questions I recall seeing a few times: What tools do I need to do ____? What are some good books on guitar building? Where can I guy ____? It doesn't have to be all encopmassing, just have the question stated and if it has been answered in a tutorial or one of the main links on the site, just throw a link to that page. IMO the main page is kinda clunky and hard to find exactly what you want at times.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff Beer Man Posted October 17, 2005 Report Share Posted October 17, 2005 People could hit ctrl+f and search for the word they are looking for in the faq. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 17, 2005 Report Share Posted October 17, 2005 Where can I guy ____? ← But it'll definitely require a proofreader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiggz Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 i think this is a great idea, FAQ's are far better rescouce than saying its bin answered before go and find it. I am a search gumby, i cannot use the search function, it gives me (most times) random crap, so an FAQ is a good idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaxination Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 i also think it would be a great resource! only thing tho, you will just disappoint those forum members who live to tell people "use the search button"... you know, the RTFM types! you will seriously affect their quality of life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewrathofraf Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 I think a glossary of guitar terms would be way better than an FAQ. When i got started, my biggest problem was remembering terms. I would forget and have to use the search to look up trussrod stuff and never find it cuz i forgot what it was called. And i remember readeing about an AANJ somewhere and thinking "what the heck is that!?" So I think a glossary is a good idea. FAQ? Won't hurt I suppose. -RAF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 Where can I guy ____? ← But it'll definitely require a proofreader ← Haha...ouch...well at least the 'b' and 'g' are close together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weezerboy Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 iirc the reason for not doing a FAQ in the past is that it ruins any chance of discussion - faq's kill conversation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGwaH Posted October 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 iirc the reason for not doing a FAQ in the past is that it ruins any chance of discussion - faq's kill conversation. ← I had thought of that, but I can't see it killing conversation anymore than telling someone to search. After all someone can always ask for an elaboration of the FAQ if they are still confused. Besides, an FAQ only covers the most frequently asked questions, there will still be millions of questions not covered in the FAQ itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGwaH Posted October 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 Well, it is the dead of night and I've decided to get cracking on this. I've an idea of how to lay out some of the more important aspects and the bits to link to existing information. However, I was thinking a good place to start would be to start listing acronyms and short hand (i.e. pup, AANJ etc.) But, being that it's near 1:30 (2:30 if you don't count the time change) the ol' grey matter ain't working up to snuff. Anyone wanna throw in some common short hand/acronym terms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weezerboy Posted October 30, 2005 Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 (edited) i got bored... electronics H/H } When talking about pickup configuration S/S } S denotes single coil, S/S/S } H denotes humbucker. H/S/S } The first letter is the pickup nearest the bridge. dpdt double pole double throw } spdt single pole double throw } types of switches spst single pole single throw } etc. } PAF - patent applied for [type of pickup] pup/p-up - pick-up General Guitar Acronyms LP - Les Paul TOM - Tune-o-matic [bridge] Building AANJ - all access neck joint CA - cyanoacrylates [tradenames: Hot Stuff, Zap, Crazy Glue, etc.] Edited October 30, 2005 by weezerboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gripper Posted October 30, 2005 Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 How about an index for newbies that has links to previous threads on the same subject. It could incorporate the common term stuff at the same time and give extended options, kind of like the (I wish it weren't true) Windows help index. I wouldn't call it a true FAQ. More of a reference index. HAHAHAHA!!!!! I got it!! The Dewey Decibal System!!! I am so sorry for that as this is a cool subject. Proceed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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